Assembly and Method for Ruggedizing Computer Racks And/Or Electronic Cage Assemblies

1. An assembly for enhancing structural rigidity of a computer rack used to house electronic components comprising: a casing made of a light weight cast metal, said casing having a continuous planar major surface and a plurality of protrusions extending away from said major surface at regular spacings such that each of a plurality of respective pairs of adjacent protrusions define first and second wall surfaces of each of a plurality of channels: one or more inserts fabricated of a stiffer material than said casing, each insert having a stiffness greater than said stiffness of said casing, and each insert being disposed within one of said channels of said casing in contact with the major surface and each of said first and second wall surfaces so as to stiffen said casing; said casing and each insert together being capable of being used as at least part of a side of said computer rack.

2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein said channels of said casing are open at said edges of said wall surfaces remote from said major surface and said channels and each said inserts have complementary designs such that each said one or more insert fits securely into said channels.

3. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said one or more insert has a hollow center and a diameter of at least one said hollow center can be selectively altered.

4. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said major surface of said casing extends in horizontal directions and said protrusions extend in a vertical direction away from said major surface.

5. The assembly of claim 3 , wherein at least one said insert is comprised of a plurality of components.

6. The assembly of claim 3 , wherein said insert further comprises a plurality of multiangular shaped tubings disposed adjacent to one another each of said plurality of said tubings including elongated surfaces extending in a direction of a length of said channels, said elongated surfaces of at least first and second multiangular shaped tubings contacting one another within a channel and forming a diagonal of a parallelogram.

7. The assembly of claim 6 , wherein each of said first and second multiangular tubings has a triangular cross-section.

8. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least one said insert has a rectangular cross-section.

9. The assembly of claim 6 , wherein a plurality of inserts are used at each end of said casing.

10. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said casing is comprised of aluminum or aluminum compounds.

11. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said casing is comprised of steel or steel compounds.

12. A ruggedized computer rack for housing electronic components comprising: a ruggedized side, said ruggedized side including a casing made of a light weight cast metal, said casing having a continuous planar major surface and a plurality of protrusions extending away from said major surface at regular spacings such that said protrusions of each of a plurality of respective pairs of adjacent protrusions define first and second wall surfaces of each of a plurality of channels, one or more inserts fabricated of a stiffer material than said casing, each insert having a stiffness greater than a stiffness of said casing, and each insert being disposed within one of said channels of said casing in contact with said major surface and each of said first and second wall surfaces so as to stiffen said casing.

13. The rack of claim 12 , wherein said ruggedized side is disposed at a top of said rack such that said major surface extends in a direction of a top surface of said rack.

14. The rack of claim 12 , wherein said ruggedized side is disposed at a bottom of said rack such that said major surface extends in a direction of a bottom surface of said rack.

15. The rack of claim 13 , said rack further comprising a second one of said ruggedized sides disposed at a bottom of said rack such that said major surface thereof extends in a direction of a bottom surface of said rack, and further comprising at least third and fourth ones of said ruggedized sides, each of said third and fourth ruggedized sides extending between said bottom ruggedized side and said top ruggedized side.

16. The rack of claim 12 , wherein said casing is made of aluminum.

17. The rack of claim 16 , wherein said inserts are tubular in shape and comprised of steel.

18. A method of ruggedizing a computer rack used to house electronic components comprising: forming at least a portion of one side of said rack to include a casing made of a light weight cast metal, said casing having a continuous planar major surface and a plurality of protrusions extending away from said major surface at regular spacings, such that said protrusions of each of a plurality of respective pairs of adjacent protrusions define first and second wall surfaces of each of a plurality of channels, one or more inserts fabricated of a stiffer material than said casing, each insert having a stiffness greater than said stiffness of said casing, and each insert being disposed within one or said channels of said casing in contact with said major surface and each of said first and second wall surfaces so as to stiffen said rack.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein said at least one insert further comprises a plurality of multiangular shaped tubings disposed adjacent to one another, each of the plurality of tubings including elongated surfaces extending in a direction of a length of said channels, said elongated surfaces of at least first and second multiangular shaped tubings contacting one another within a channel of said plurality of channels and forming a diagonal of a parallelogram.

20. An assembly as claimed in claim 19 , wherein each of said first and second multiangular tubings has a triangular cross-section.